U.S. News releases 2026 Best Hospitals: Highlights and takeaways

A select group of hospitals have received highly-sought recognition.

U.S. News & World Report released its 2026-27 Best Hospital rankings early Tuesday morning. It’s the 37th year that U.S. News has compiled rankings of America’s top hospitals.

This year’s list recognized 505 “Best Regional” hospitals among thousands of hospitals around the country. The hospitals come from 49 states and Washington, D.C.

Hospitals and health systems welcome spots in the U.S. News listing of top hospitals. Many hospitals tout the honors in their marketing campaigns, with billboards, social media ads and other advertising highlighting their placement among the Best Hospitals.

Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, spoke with Chief Healthcare Executive® about this year’s rankings, which feature more information about top regional hospitals in a host of areas.

“Most healthcare is provided locally or regionally, and it should be provided locally or regionally,” Harder says.

What’s new?

In the 2026 rankings, U.S. News has introduced regional specialty rankings in four areas:

• Cancer;
• Cardiology, including heart and vascular surgery;
• Orthopedics;
• Rehabilitation

“That really reflects what we know about how patients consume and encounter healthcare,” Harder says.

Since most patients and families are going to seek care close to where they live, Harder says U.S. News is “really leaning in on that with our expansion of our regional rankings this year.”

“For patients, it's about convenience, but it's also about coverage, insurance coverage, and it's also about care continuity,” he adds. “They need to be able to develop, and maintain a relationship with their care providers, and increasingly with healthcare systems, which may house multiple different services that they need. That connectivity between those doctors and that patient is really important.”

Has the methodology changed?

U.S. News regularly refines its methodology in selecting the best hospitals, and there are some noteworthy changes this year.

This year, U.S. News placed greater weight on risk-adjusted outcome measures, especially in its ranking of top hospitals in cardiology. Harder also says the rankings de-emphasize the volumes of procedures.

There’s one noteworthy consequence with the revised methodology. More small hospitals earned recognition among the Best Hospitals, Harder says.

In compiling specialty rankings and ratings in procedures, U.S. News analyzed more than 800 million records of patient care.

Are hospitals recognized for access?

U.S. News recognizes 73 Best Regional Hospitals for Community Access.

The hospitals have to be recognized as Best Regional Hospitals, but they are singled out for ensuring vulnerable communities have access to care.

“They need to treat a patient population that is reflective of their community, and is a community where there's a relatively sizable population of patients who, by any definition, have elevated risk,” Harder says.

Who made the Honor Roll?

Each year, U.S. News includes a handful of top hospitals in its “Honor Roll.”

These hospitals earned spots on the U.S. News Honor Roll. They are listed alphabetically.

Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Cleveland Clinic

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Houston Methodist Hospital

Johns Hopkins Hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital

Mayo Clinic-Arizona

Mayo Clinic-Florida

Mayo Clinic

Mount Sinai Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital - Columbia and Cornell

Northwestern Medicine - Northwestern Memorial Hospital

NYU Langone Hospitals

Rush University Medical Center

Stanford Health Care- Stanford Hospital

UC San Diego Health - La Jolla, Hillcrest & East Campus Medical Centers

UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center

UCSF Health - UCSF Medical Center

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Which hospitals ranked at the top in metro areas?

U.S. News picked the top hospitals in more than two dozen metro areas. In some cases, a couple of hospitals tied at the top.

Here are the top hospitals in those metro areas, and listings of how many “Best Hospitals” are in each metro area.

Atlanta: Emory University Hospital, No. 1 out of 13 Best Hospitals

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Hospital, No. 1 out of 6 Best Hospitals

Boston: Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, No. 1 (tied) out of 10 Best Hospitals

Charlotte: Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, No. 1 out of 6 Best Hospitals near Charlotte

Chicago: Northwestern Medicine-Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Rush University Medical Center, No. 1 (tied) out of 20 Best Hospitals near Chicago

Cleveland: Cleveland Clinic, No. 1 out of 6 Best Hospitals near Cleveland

Dallas-Fort Worth: UT Southwestern Medical Center, No. 1 out of 13 Best Hospitals

Detroit: University of Michigan Health-Ann Arbor, No. 1 out of 11 Best Hospitals

Houston: Houston Methodist Hospital, No. 1 out of 14 Best Hospitals

Kansas City: University of Kansas Hospital, No. 1 out of 5 Best Hospitals

Los Angeles: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, No. 1 (tied) out of 25 Best Hospitals

Miami-Fort Lauderdale: Cleveland Clinic Weston, No. 1 out of 8 Best Hospitals

Minneapolis-St. Paul: M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center, No. 1 out of 10 Best Hospitals

New York: Mount Sinai Hospital, New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell and NYU Langone Hospitals, No. 1 (tied) out of 28 Best Hospitals

Philadelphia: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, No. 1 out of 13 Best Hospitals

Phoenix: Mayo Clinic-Arizona, No. 1 out of 5 Best Hospitals

Pittsburgh: UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, No. 1 out of 6 Best Hospitals

Portland: OHSU Hospital, No. 1 out of 6 Best Hospitals

Raleigh-Durham: Duke University Hospital, No. 1 out of 6 Best Hospitals

Richmond: VCU Medical Center, No. 1 out of 5 Best Hospitals

Sacramento: UC Davis Medical Center, No. 1 out of 6 Best Hospitals

San Diego: UC San Diego Health-La Jolla, Hillcrest, & East Campus Medical Centers, No. 1 out of 9 Best Hospitals

San Francisco: UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center, No. 1 out of 13 Best Hospitals

Seattle: Virginia Mason Medical Center, No. 1 out of 9 Best Hospitals

St. Louis: Barnes-Jewish Hospital, No. 1 out of 8 Best Hospitals

Tampa-St. Petersburg: Tampa General Hospital, No. 1 out of 5 Best Hospitals

Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News: Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, No. 1 out of 6 Best Hospitals

Washington, D.C.: MedStar Washington Hospital Center, No. 1 out of 12 Best Hospitals